Transport. Tachographs: records to be carried by the driver.

Art. 36 – EU regulation No 165/2014

In 2016 in Italy, the new provisions contained in the EU regulation No 165/2014 came into force, focusing on control checks and sanctions by the police in relation to driving times and rest periods.

Without prejudice to obligation of the driver, the vehicles equipped with an analogue tachograph must have the record sheets (discs) for the current day and the previous 28 days, as far as the vehicles equipped with a digital tachograph are concerned, there has been a clarification as to what documents need to be carried by the driver and made available at the request of authorised control officers (Police, Carabinieri, Traffic Wardens, Fiscal Police) whether in Italy or abroad.

Article 36, newly introduced in the aforementioned EU Regulation states at point 2:

“Article  36 -Records to be carried by the driver

2. Where the driver drives a vehicle fitted with a digital tachograph, he shall be able to produce, whenever an authorised control officer so requests:

(i) his driver card,

(ii) any manual records and printouts made during the current day and the previous 28 days as required under this Regulation and Regulation (EC) No 561/2006,

(iii) the record sheets corresponding to the same period as that referred to in point (ii) during which he drove a vehicle fitted with an analogue tachograph.”

Si richiama l’attenzione su quanto segue:

1. The term PRINTOUT means only and exclusively the printing of the data stored daily in the digital tachograph, that is to be recorded on the appropriate roll in thermal paper approved in compliance with EC Regulations 2135/1998 and CE 1360/2002 for the printer of which the digital tachograph is equipped.
2. No other printout other than the strip of thermal paper printed by the digital tachograph is allowed.
3. It is obligatory to have available on the vehicle the printout data recorded on a thermal paper roll of all the activities carried out in the previous 28 days in order to avoid a malfunctioning of the driver’s card or tachograph. That prevents the printing of documents on the spot what is subject to verification and thus can be penalized.

In short, as it is already the case for vehicles equipped with an analogue tachograph, the driver of a vehicle equipped with a digital device is obliged to carry the discs and/or prints on thermal paper of the current day and the previous 28 days in relation to the means used in the aforementioned period.

It should also be remembered that the rolls used in digital tachographs must include the manufacturer’s approval number, valid across the EU, and the approval number corresponding to the type of tachograph used.